BRIEFING ON REPORT OF MARS PROGRAM INDEPENDENT ASSESSMENT TEAM SCHEDULED

A briefing on the report of the Mars Program Independent
Assessment Team will be held Tuesday, March 28, at 2 p.m. EST, in
the James E. Webb Auditorium at NASA Headquarters, 300 E Street,
SW, Washington, DC.

Thomas Young will present the team's findings and
recommendations. NASA Associate Administrator for Space Science,
Dr. Edward J. Weiler, will address NASA's response to the findings
and recommendations. NASA chartered the team to independently
assess current and future Mars programs in light of the recent
loss of several spacecraft at Mars. The report of the Mars Polar
Lander Failure Review Board, chaired by John Casani, will be
released concurrently with the Young team's report.

The briefing will be carried live on NASA TV with two-way
question-and-answer capability for reporters covering the event
from participating NASA centers. The report will be available to
the press, on paper, at noon EST Tuesday in the newsrooms at the
following NASA locations: Headquarters, Washington, DC; Kennedy
Space Center, FL; Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX; and the Jet
Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA. Its contents are embargoed
for release until 2 p.m. EST March 28. The report will be
accessible online at 2 p.m. EST from the NASA homepage at: